Sports of The Times; At 65, a Legend Bids Farewell With a Birdie

By DAVE ANDERSON

Published: July 16, 2005

TO know where Jack Nicklaus was on the Old Course in the 134th British Open, you just had to listen for the applause that followed him from hole to hole. And as he walked up the 18th fairway here for the last time, the cheers from the thousands of spectators in the grandstands and in front of the adjacent shops, homes and hotels grew louder -- warm, loving applause unlike any other for a golfer unlike any other.

Only in golf could a 65-year-old athlete wave goodbye in the cauldron of competition. In other sports, the great ones leave at a much younger age. Ask Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan or Willie Mays or Joe Montana. Old-timers' days or championship-team reunions never re-create the competitive stage. But yesterday, Jack Nicklaus was lining up a 15-foot birdie putt on that same green in front of some of the same spectators in the same tournament that he won in 1970 and 1978 at St. Andrews, the place where golf began six centuries ago. And when the putt disappeared into the cup, more of that warm, loving applause erupted.

''I knew that the hole would move where I hit it; I always make it on the 18th,'' he said later, laughing. ''I aimed six inches left of the hole, played a six-inch break, hit it and the ball was going along and every other putt going that way missed the hole, but this one gobbled it in. It was like Pac-Man.''

Even with that birdie for an even-par 72, Nicklaus missed the 36-hole cut, but he did not miss the message in what he has described as his farewell to major championship golf.

''When I come in here,'' he said, referring to the press tent, ''and say that I shot 72, and it's the best round I shot this year, and I played well, and I'm missing the cut, you know it's time to leave. That's sort of the way I look at it.''

Even before that birdie putt, the scene here provided the perfect stage for Jack Nicklaus to leave -- the only way the best golfer, the best competitor and the best sportsman of our time could leave.

He will be remembered for his record 18 major titles: six Masters, four United States Opens, three British Opens and five P.G.A. Championships. But he also should be remembered for his class.

''I'm not really concerned about what my legacy is in relation to the game of golf, frankly,'' he said. ''I'm more concerned about what my legacy is with my family, my kids and my grandkids. That's far more important to me. If I've done it properly out here and I can hold my head up to my kids and grandkids, that's the most important thing.''

He need not worry about his family legacy. As he walked off the 18th green after hugging his son and caddie, Steve, he hugged his wife, Barbara, his three other sons -- Jackie, Gary and Michael -- and his daughter, Nan, and her husband, Bill O'Leary.

Nicklaus had missed the cut the last time the British Open was contested at St. Andrews, in 2000. In his first concession to the possibility that he might miss it again, for the first few holes he wore a replica of the navy blue cashmere sweater with white, light blue and royal blue diamonds that he had worn when he held the Claret Jug here in 1978.

''They both said 'Large' on them,'' he said, laughing, referring to the original as well as the replica. ''But that was a much larger sweater than I wore before. They did a limited edition of 500 of them. My wife told me the reason she sent me back this year, if she'd known you were going to finish on Friday in 2000, I would have dressed you better. I would have worn that sweater Sunday had I made the cut. That was a sentimental old fool talking about some old things.''

Unlike his other tournament appearances in recent years, Nicklaus also played yesterday without a cap, the Golden Bear's thinning hair blowing in the wind.

''I wanted my last day of golf not to be with a hat on,'' he said. ''If I wanted to bring back some memories, I wanted to bring back a golf game and look. Sentimental old fool again.''

He insisted that he won't miss the tournament arena, because he had not been truly competitive in the majors for several years.

''The last time I was really competitive was the '98 Masters,'' he said. ''I've pretty well gotten used to not being competitive. And now my competitive desire really runs in design,'' as a golf course architect. ''With your design work on the ground, you actually leave another legacy.''

When Nicklaus was reminded that he had always conducted himself like a gentleman, unlike some other golfers or other athletes, he nodded.

''I feel sorry for them,'' he said. ''The game we play is a game and nothing more. I think that the game needs to be played in that spirit. I think that a very, very great majority of the players in the game today have a sense of the right thing to do, and what is the right thing. If they don't, then maybe they need to learn that.

''Hopefully, if the example that I've set from that standpoint, if that's followed by some and it helps one young guy change what he's doing, then I'm successful. But this would be a pretty lousy game for me if we had these guys coming out and making putts and pounding their chests. I wouldn't have much use for the game.''

If all the thousands who applauded him around the 18th hole of the Old Course had heard those words, they would have applauded again.

''The people were fantastic,'' Nicklaus said. ''Maybe it's just as well I missed the cut. These people have been wonderful. They've given of themselves and gave me a lot more than I deserved.''

No, they didn't, Jack. As much as they gave you on the Old Course yesterday, it could never be more than you deserved.

Photo: Jack Nicklaus and his old nemesis Tom Watson left the 18th green together after Nicklaus shot a 72 in his final round at St. Andrews. (Photo by Laurent Rebours/Associated Press)